The present invention relates to the dental sculpting arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with hand held dental instruments for use in sculpting porcelain dental units, such as bridges, crowns, molars and premolars and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention will also find application in conjunction with sculpting other units.
Heretofore, dental technicians commonly use rigid, heavy tools for sculpting (e.g., carving) dental units. The rigidity of the carving edge (e.g., spatula) on these conventional carving tools makes it difficult for even experienced technicians to sculpt anatomically accurate dental units. Novices who are developing their sculpting skills are frustrated even more. Furthermore, heavy assemblies associated with the tools cause any user to become uncomfortable and tired after a short time, negatively affecting the quality of the product produced.
Traditional dental sculpting tools include a single, inflexible structure having a spatula at one end and a handle at the other end. In order to sculpt a material such as porcelain, a user holds the handle and carves the material with the spatula. The spatula is rigidly connected to the handle such that the handle transmits all movements and forces from the user's hand to the porcelain being sculpted. In other words, there is no flexibility built into the sculpting tool for absorbing and moderating unintended harsh movements from the user's hand. Therefore, harsh movements resulting from jerks or twitches in the user's hand produce unintended cuts in the material. These unintended cuts result in a structure which does not precisely and accurately represent the anatomy it is meant to depict.
A considerable amount of time is needed to develop the skills required for properly sculpting porcelain dental units. The conventional sculpting tools only tend to increase the amount of time necessary for acquiring those skills and frustrate students. In other words, conventional sculpting tools cannot be adjusted to accommodate different users' techniques. Instead, dental sculptors are currently forced to adjust their techniques to accommodate a narrow range of flexibility offered by conventional sculpting tools.
The present invention provides a new and improved apparatus and method which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.